Abilene, Texas

Continuing the small town America theme we rolled into Abilene earlier today after a short 43 mile sprint over from Sweetwater.  After the last few days on the road we have had it was a nice break for the legs. However it wasn’t all smooth sailing, we did have our first serious injury of the ride this morning and it was a pretty serious wreck for everyone involved.  Unlike the first 3 states we rode through in Texas it’s illegal to ride along the interstate which has led the support team to put us on some pretty interesting roads these first few days.  So this morning as we were going under a bridge on a super bumpy patch one of the riders lost control and flew over his handle bars landing on his head and shoulder.  Fortunately his helmet did its job and broke into 4 pieces but his shoulder wasn’t as lucky which resulted in a trip to the emergency department in Abilene.  We all took it pretty easy the rest of the morning and finished together which was still by noon with the short distance. Abilene has a quaint little historic downtown area which is really great to see after the ghosts of downtowns we’ve been through recently. It seems all too often these small towns in the southwest are dominated by a Wal-mart, McDonalds and Dairy Queen along the interstate while the core of the downtown area goes to waste (probably sounds way too familiar to), I dislike the suburbs of big cities for the same reason where strip malls, chain restaurants and cookie cutter homes rule.  A small group of us spent the afternoon at the Cypress Street Station, a beautiful historic building that has been converted into a restaurant and brew pub.  The conversation of our trip came up with the wait staff (which happens a lot) and soon the owner of the restaurant (who just happened to be an Ohio State Graduate and letter winner) was sitting with us, asking questions, offering a place to stay and drinks. We met his entire family and promised we’d come back later that evening to watch some basketball games and talk some more. The church community center we stayed at featured a gym, arcade games, bowling alley and skating rink, way too much fun and entertainment for a group 25 "kids".   We all really enjoyed our stay in Abilene, I’d stay awhile but I can’t wait to get to Fort Worth on Friday to see my family!  No Chain!

Not exactly a road bike ready road, but we had no other choice.

Man down.  

So true. 4 more years ladies and this fine looking gentleman can be your Ob-gyn.

Bowling anyone.

Pete got his picture on the wall after being the top bowling performer.

One sweet skating rink, also where we slept for the night.

The Last Few Days...

The ride has hit western Texas which has been a dramatic change from the first couple of weeks.  We now see green and trees on the side of the road instead of brown and cacti, we see more cattle and trucks then people and cars and there definitely has been a lot less steep climbs to deal with.  We’ve hit 3 pretty standard small towns the last 3 nights; Hobbs, America (as it was introduced to us by our hosts at the school although it really was on the border of New Mexico and Texas), Lamesa, Texas and Sweetwater, Texas.  Sunday was supposed to be an easy 65 mile cruise with great weather into Hobbs but our first major wreck of the ride turned a great day sour quickly.  Riding in groups is an advanced skill, at speeds from 18 to 50 miles per hour along twists, turns and bumps in the road it takes the utmost of concentration at all times and on Sunday a couple of the riders lost that.  A rub of the wheels between a couple of the riders near the front of the line led to a massive pile up of bikes along the side of the highway, luckily there was only some road rash among the riders involved and a few of the bikes were put out of commission for the rest of the day.  A local rider in Hobbs was able to repair 2 of the 3 bikes that were seriously injured which was a relief as bike repairs are just as expensive as cars most times.  Our hosts at Hobbs High School prepared a great dinner and an even more amazing breakfast for us before we hit the road to Lamesa. We awoke on Monday morning to fog, cold and a headwind, not exactly great conditions to ride a bike in and none of which we were expecting in Texas.  We plugged away though and averaged pretty good speeds during the morning; even with the time change into the central time zone we hit Lamesa around 12:30 pm after completing the 75 miles. Normally that would be a great time to explore the city but due to the conditions and the lack of anything in the entire town we ended up spending 3 hours in the dining room at McDonalds drinking coffee, taking naps and waiting to get into the high school where we were spending the night.  Due to the lack of a kitchen we ended up cooking our dinner on a propane stove in the high schools football stadium, dinner was served on the bleachers as some of the local middle and high schoolers played 7 on 7 touch football on the field.  Some cheering and possibly jeering from the stands by the riders quickly led to the involvement of Pete, Tim and I in the game and things got pretty serious quickly (probably not surprising to most people who know me and sports).  I’m not sure playing full field touch football the day before a 105 mile ride was the best idea as I definitely felt the pain of using some muscles that I hadn’t touched this entire trip as I began to peddle this morning but we had a lot of fun and made some new friends.  We woke up this morning to a thick fog and the temperature in the 40’s which led to some cold and wet riders over the first 60 miles of today’s ride, for the first time all trip we actually sat in the vans during lunch and blasted the heat so we could feel our fingers and toes again.  The remaining 50 miles after lunch were definitely a grind but the sun finally began to peek out from the clouds just as we hit the city limits of Sweetwater which allowed us to warm up again as we laid on the front lawn of the school as we waited for the end of the classes once again.  With only 40 miles to Abilene tomorrow (After days of 75,75 and 105) there’s plans to hit the town this evening. No Chain!

The greeted us with "Welcome to Hobbs, America". I knew we would be friends.

Our sleeping arrangements in Hobbs. When Ralph Tasker retired as mens varsity basketball coach he led the nation in all time wins. It was a beautiful arena for a small town in New Mexico.

Katie just getting her laps in.

Who knew Texas could be so gray and windy?

The crew warming up at McDonalds

Football with the locals.

Our cheering section.

Internets!

Finally found some unlocked Wifi in a mexican restaurant 3 blocks from the high school we are staying at, it took some exploring.  We may have all just ate dinner but for the chance to check our emails, fbook and update our blogs we will do just about anything as a group.  A lot of new posts from the last few days of traveling and added some pictures I just found to a couple of the old ones.  Check it out, No Chain!

Carlsbad, New Mexico

A new ranger in town.

After the ride we had the day before we were all looking forward to a light day of cycling on the way to the Carlsbad Caverns national park just outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  We were all woken up early in the morning by a storm that rolled through and gave our tents a test of their strength and water resistance.  After a little incident with the chain and locks we had placed on our bikes overnight we hit the road to cold temperatures, blustery winds and a light rain, not exactly what we were hoping for.  It was only 35 miles to the stop for the day but they felt much longer than that.  We all met at the local store in Whites, New Mexico at the turn for the park to rack our bikes, we drank all the hot cocoa the store had to offer to warm ourselves as we waited for everyone to arrive before heading in to the caverns.  The caverns were just as cool as white sands, being formed and transformed over the past 250 million years stretching for more than 21 miles beneath the surface of the earth.  We descended into the dark to be surrounded by stalactites, stalagmites and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t remember the name of.  From the natural opening to the Big Room where we stopped for the day we descended 75 stories and nearly 2 miles over our 1.5 hour hike.  The Big Room stretches 8.2 acres and felt like an amphitheatre for some of the more famous features such as the bottomless pit, Giant Dome, Rock of Ages and Painted Groto.  It was breath taking in every direction and due to the free week of entrance to all the national parks was packed with tourists taking in the views.  We ended the day with our first showers in 2 days at the First Baptist Church of Carlsbad where were spending the night before heading to Hobbs, New Mexico tomorrow.  No Chain!  

We woke up in the clouds.

Then road in the rain.

I got attacked by a bear at lunch.

The natural entrance to the caverns

Walking down 75 stories.

My camera doesn't do them justice.

My spelunking crew.

It's a 2 minute highlight video, check it out if you have time.

Guadalupe Mountain National Park

The Goal.

“I was already running, even then, toward a new place within myself: Pushing the envelope into longer distances seemed to open a door, somehow, into a kind of undiscovered country of mind and body that id never known about or imagined. And as my old physical limits faded behind me, I began to wonder if the boundaries I’d perceived and believed about though and consciousness might be elastic as well. What makes a human being go? What makes a person run, climb, try hard or even get up in the morning, and what makes him stop?” 

                                                                          - From the book To the Edge by Kirk Johnson

This is the second mountain national park that we have stayed in which I have come to realize means one thing, there is going to be a climb up that mountain at the end of the day.  We started out an hour earlier than normal because of the day that was planned, 107 miles!  Google map El Paso, Texas to Guadalupe Mountain National Park, or I can just save you the time and tell you what we cycled through which was not much of anything, not a city, not a town, not a park, nothing but rolling hills and desert. I got off to a slow start because of rear wheel issues and fell about 20 minutes behind the group, which is not how you want to start such a long day in the saddle especially with the headwind we were facing.  There is nothing worse in cycling than a headwind except a headwind when there is no one else around to give you a break from it by riding behind them for awhile.  The wind averaged 17-20 miles the entire day and was a lot gustier the closer we got to the peak.  I did this for the first 25 miles to the first water stop, at one point around mile 20 I broke down in to tears (Preface: not the only time I cry this day) because I was pedaling as hard as I could and was still only going 11 miles per hour and I could just picture the lead group pulling away from me as I struggled on my own. I came within minutes of calling the sweep van to end my day early but by some minor miracle one of the guys I ride the most with, Chris, got a flat tire while pulling into the rest stop and Pete had hung back with him, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I was to see the two of them sitting there.  We hammered as a group of 3 the next 35 miles to the lunch stop catching all the way to lunch, catching all the rest of the riders in the process.  We continued to fight the headwinds and hills after lunch but we got the added fun of Texan drivers who really seem to not like cyclists on their roads.  We had one last rest stop at mile 80 before beginning the climb which changed a lot of people on this trip from being just bike riders to cyclists.  I’ve done a lot of physically demanding things in my life but this effort shot straight to top of the list.  It began slowly at around mile 94 and did not relent until our campsite at mile 107, 13 straight miles of pain.  Throw in the headwind and there were multiple times where I was concerned I would fall over sideways due to the lack of forward momentum.  Pete and I climbed together, side by side, not a word between us except the muffled grunts of exertion, we both knew without saying the pain each other was feeling in our thighs, calves and just about every other muscle in our bodies.  It seemed for awhile that every switchback we came around the road just rose steeper in front of us.  About half way up the climb I had to turn my odometer off as it was making me sick to my stomach how slowly the tenths of miles were clicking off.  We ended up climbing for 1 hour and 20 minutes straight, every pedal stroke requiring maximal effort to complete just to reach our campsite for the night. The word epic got tossed around a lot as we sipped our celebratory beers as we lay on the ground in the middle of the road at the campground.  That climb would have been tough in any condition but after beginning it after 94 miles and 6 hours of riding, facing that headwind and the heat of the afternoon sun, I was brought to tears for the second time of the day at what we had just accomplished.  The rest of the night was spent rehashing the trials of the day, before we all crashed back into our sleeping bags shortly after sunset.  Epic day, one Ill remember forever.  No chain!

When I finally made it back to the group.

It haunted us all day in the distance.

This sign was not lying.

The beginning.

Working very hard, probably crying.

Steeper  and more painful than it looks.

Beautiful, but they channeled the wind.

The road below winding to the top.

The view from the top.

A couple of happy guys.

Far.

White Sands National Park

"Nothing is wasted
And life is worth living
Heaven is nowhere
Just look to the stars
There is a daylight
It's yours for embracing
Everything is nothing
And nothing is ours"

- Hot Chip

We had too much fun at White Sands national park on our off day, the first of 3 national parks we hit in 3 days.  Before this trip I had never been to a national park before but I can tell you that it won’t be soon after it that I go to my next.  National parks cost exactly $3 to enter and occasionally in the spring and fall they are free (like this entire week) and I can tell you now from experience they are worth every penny.  When I think of the crap (I wanted to use another word but I don’t know who all reads this) people spend money on for entertainment I can’t believe our national parks aren’t more crowded, but maybe its better that way.  White Sands national park is located at the northern end of the Chihuahua desert and lies in a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa basin.  For 275 square miles great glistening white sand wave-like dunes can be seen in every direction. If you were blindfolded dropped down in the middle and then asked where you were it would just as easily be confused for Antarctica for how vast and white the sand is.  The sand is made of gypsum, a common mineral, but it is rarely found in sand because it is soluble in water.  It’s impossible to describe the texture, the 13 med students that I was with couldn’t even come up with anything but it’s somewhere between fine sugar and powder sugar and so cool to the touch even in the heat of the midday desert sun. We found the largest, steepest dune we could and spent the rest of the afternoon sledding, rolling an jumping down it.  Sunset was gorgeous as the colors spread across the white sand when the sun dipped behind the mountains that surrounded the basin.  We all sat in silence for awhile before we piled back into the van for the 2 hour drive back to our hotel.  Totally worth the drive and the money, I hope I can come back again someday.  No Chain!

The road into the park was just snowplowed

Maggie. Prepping our super sweet sled.

Race to the top.

In the bright sunlight the sand looked just like snow.

Im from Iowa, I know how to sled.

Speed demon.

Lack of sleds led to rolling.

Libby, Maggie, Me.

Ride for world health.

Jump!

Now everyone.

Sunset.

The crew on the way back to the van.